Founded by the late Professor Erwin Ringel and Dr. Norman Farberow in 1960, IASP now includes professionals and volunteers from more than fifty different countries. IASP is a Non-Governmental Organization
concerned with suicide prevention.

If you are feeling suicidal or know of someone who needs help, browse Help to find a crisis center anywhere in the world.

Sign up for updates on World Suicide Prevention Day and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF EXPERTS ISSUES AN ALERT REGARDING
RELEASE OF 13 REASONS WHY, SEASON 2

May 16, 2018. In 2017 Netflix released 13 Reasons Why to a global audience and extensive concern on the part of experts. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found a significant increase in internet searches on suicide following the release of season 1. As a result and in preparation for the release of season 2 on May 18, 2018, an international coalition of leading experts in education, mental health and suicide prevention have released concerns and recommendations to youth, parents, educators and clinicians/professionals.

"We want to make sure the public is aware and prepared for the release of season 2 so that they can be informed and available to youth who want to talk about the issues in the series, as well as for those youth who struggle with the content" said Dr. Dan Reidenberg, Executive Director of SAVE who lead the coalition. "While we hope that the series will encourage important conversations and more positive, healthy behaviors, we also are concerned that the series could have negative outcomes for some youth."

The coalition of nonprofits, educational and research institutions, membership organizations, advocacy groups and professionals issued the statement urging adults to make an effort to watch the series with youth and to talk with them about the issues raised in the show. The full statement can be found at www.13reasonswhytoolkit.org.

Research demonstrates that depictions of violence and self-harm can increase the likelihood of copycat behaviors. Adolescents are a vulnerable group and are highly impressionable, frequently copying others' behaviors or reacting in response to things they have seen. Such copycat and harmful behaviors displayed on television and/or in film can lead to harmful outcomes. "Season 1 included detailed portrayal of suicide, violence and it represented adults and professionals in a non-caring manner," according to Dr. Murad Khan, President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. "By creating a toolkit for young people, adults and professionals, we can demonstrate constructive and positive coping skills and encourage recovery and hope."

In order to help reduce the risk of suicide contagion, the coalition implores media covering this story to be cautious and follow international messaging recommendations when reporting on the topic of suicide:

In all media reports, it is important to include factual information on suicide rates, warning signs of youth suicide (www.youthsuicidewarningsigns.org), as well as information on helplines and support services for adolescents and concerned parents.

When reporting on mass shootings, media are encouraged to follow recommendations found at:

International Coalition Partners
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Association of Suicidology
American Psychiatric Association
Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention
British Psychological Society
Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention
International Association for Suicide Prevention
International Academy for Suicide Research
Medical University of Vienna, Center for Public Health, Dept of Social and Preventive Medicine
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
National Association of School Psychologists
National Council for Behavioral Health
National Suicide Research Foundation, Ireland
Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia
Samaritans/Befriender's Worldwide
Stanford Psychiatry's Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing
School of Public Health, University College Cork, Ireland
Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide
Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
The Jason Foundation
The Jed Foundation (JED)
The Lancet Psychiatry
The Trevor Project

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News

IASP President Professor Murad Khan introduces the summer edition of the newsletter, writing about the success of the 8th Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Suicide Prevention which was held in New Zealand and had 276 attendees. He introduces a new Special Interest Group (SIG) on Lthe formal launchived Experience and notes the formal launch of the Clinical Advisory Services Aotearoa's new Postvention Guidelines for the Management of Suicide Clusters. Professor Khan also highlights the upcoming World Suicide Prevention Day to be held on September 10th.

Read more about the launch of postvention guidelines for the management of suicide clusters and the 2018 IASP Asia Pacific Conference. The Prevention of Intentional Pesticide Poisoning SIG offers an article entitled, "Where to now for the prevention of intentional pesticide poisoning?"

The SIG on suicidal behaviour in middle-aged adults offers a description of this Special Interest Group and invites people who are interested on this topic to the SIG launching symposium "Suicide and Self-harm in Middle-aged Adults" on the 17th European Symposium on Suicide & Suicidal Behaviour, taking place in Ghent, Belgium on 5 - 8 September 2018.

Learn more about World Suicide Prevention Day and its theme, "Working Together to Prevent Suicide."

Remco de Winter, IASP National representative for the Netherlands, shares an update of suicide and suicide prevention in The Netherlandsn noting that unfortunately the Dutch number of suicides are the last ten years dramatically increased from 1353 in 2007 to 1894 in 2016 (11.05/100.000) with an average increase of around 5% each year. Read about initiatives, implementation strategy and the National Strategy suicide prevention 2014-2018.

The IASP Early Career Group offers an update sharing that the Group now has representation from 14 countries and recent and upcoming activities.

Learn about the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference to be held 22nd-23rd November, 2018.

Offers an interview with the organizers of the European Symposium on Suicide & Suicidal Behaviour 2017 (ESSSB 17).

Dr Pandit Devjyoti Sharma shares that the The State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW) has launched SAMAAD (Dialogue)
training, which aims to improve the efficiency and ensure that staff to provide better health services to patients.

Read about the National Suicide Prevention Conference - Promoting Early Career Researchers and the upcoming Early Career Research Workshop and the Three Minute Thesis competition.

Download the inaugural edition of Engage -the Early Career Group newsletter, that introduces this new and growing IASP group. Read to find information on upcoming conferences or to discover features and snapshot pieces from early career persons working in the area of suicidology.

World Suicide Prevention Day Products

Message from the President

Welcome to the official Web site of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP).
The IASP was established in 1960 and is the largest international organization dedicated to suicide prevention and to the alleviation of the effects of suicide. It has members in more than 50 countries.

Through browsing our Web directory,
you will discover selected suicide prevention resources, covering a range of topics for groups at risk, guides for survivors of suicide,
crisis centers located across the globe, and more.

We invite you to explore our World Suicide Prevention Day page where you can download the official brochure,
banners and find other resources. We also invite you to become a member to receive our internationally respected journal,
Crisis, which offers the latest findings
from both basic research and practical experience in the fields of suicide prevention and crisis intervention.

Suicide and non-fatal suicidal behaviour are major public health problems across the world. Data from the WHO indicate that
approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide each year. This corresponds to one death by suicide every 40 seconds.
The number of lives lost each year through suicide exceeds the number of deaths due to homicide and war combined.
Suicide attempts and suicidal ideation are far more common; for example, the number of suicide attempts is up to 20 times the number of deaths by suicide.

But, suicide is preventable. We ask that if you are despairing that you contact a crisis center. Many people have found that talking helps to alleviate painful suicidal thoughts and feelings.

We ask you to continue helping us making a difference in the lives of those at risk of suicide.

Feel free to visit our Facebook Fan page or follow us on Twitter. Please do not hesitate to contact me to learn more about how you or your organization can participate in IASP.

Thank you for visiting.

Prof. Murad Khan
President of IASP
Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry at Aga Khan University
Karachi, Pakistan